From The Teachings of Silvanus: "Do not be a sausage which is full of useless things."

Monday, October 22, 2007

Missing from the lectionary: Luke 17:20

Has anyone else noticed that Luke 17:20 is missing from the lectionary cycle? How can a central Lucan idea of the presence of the kingdom be omitted?

I preached on the preceding passage last weekend and, in accordance with the rubric in the BCP, extended the gospel reading by adding the notion of the presence of the kingdom within or among you (pl) to the passage about healing the 10 lepers one of whom was a Samaritan. I asked that someone in the congregation read the verse and (wouldn't you know) a Kenyan woman in the front row offered to read her Swahili Bible! Doesn't it make sense of our communion today that a Kenyan Anglican woman would have brought her Bible among us to read it in church?